Man of the House
by Tif S
Summary: A Mostly Canon Compliant AU Prequel: "I grew up, no money, bad part of the Bronx, my father was gone, my mother worked all the time... I was pissed off, I was stupid." -Sandy Cohen. After giving Ryan the Oliver ultimatum, and a visit from an old friend with a request to call his brother, Sandy reflects on the year that changed everything for him and his family.
1. Prologue

_**A/N: So I got this idea as, well, I'm really interested in pre-series peeks. I've seen a lot of stories focusing on Sandy and Kirsten during and after Berkeley, and plenty of pre-series Ryan peeks, but I don't think I've ever seen anything dealing specifically with Sandy, his relationship with the Nana and his upbringing. And honestly, I feel like if I'm interested, I feel like there might be some of you that are as well, so I figured I would share this, my own little take. A bit about this. I'm trying to make this as compliant as possible based on what we're told in the series about Sandy's background, but it's been a few months since I've actually watched so little details not all be in order, so I'm giving it the canon-compliant AU tag, it definitely will be as far as the present is concerned as I've taken some liberties as far as the beginning of the episode The Truth is concerned. Since this is mostly a prequel, I've taken some liberties there as well, but I will try to keep it in the spirit of the show. As far as the story goes, it will go back and forth between the present, which is mid season 1 right in the middle of the Oliver situation after Ryan's suspension, before the truth is revealed and before Ryan meets the Nana, and the past, which will be the bulk of the story which is Sandy's freshman year of high school. Anyway as per usual I own nothing. The O.C. and all related characters belong to Josh Schwartz. The only characters I own are my versions of Sandy's siblings and father, and Jacob Hill. This prologue will be purely the present.**_

* * *

 **Prologue: Troubled Waters**

" _What am I gonna do with you? I can't ground you or chain you to a wall. There's the door. You want to go after that poor Oliver kid? Go ahead. But if you want to stay, if you want to be a part of this family, you are NOT going to go anywhere, you're not gonna see anyone or talk to anyone unless Kristen and I say it's okay. That's the deal. Take it or leave it."_ Sandy reentered the house as those words reverberated. He knew there had to be a reason. As long as he'd known Ryan, the kid hadn't lied. Lost his cool a bit maybe, but lied never. For one, he simply _couldn't_. Those little tells that a parent has to know when their kid is lying, well Ryan had about ten to Seth's three. Whereas Seth could ramble on and on to cover a slip, Ryan clammed up. The truth, well when it came to the truth, Sandy had found in just these past several months that the truth produced the opposite effect. If there was even a bit of doubt, Seth would back away and study the moment in question often with questions of his own, but Ryan, he was resolute.

As Sandy sat at the island with a cup of coffee, he let the question join him. _What do you do when there's nothing to do?_ Ryan's handling of the situation, well that's what was being examined here, at least in his eyes. They didn't know the whole story. The Trask kid, well maybe there was something wrong. Maybe it was just jealousy. They _didn't_ know, and neither did Ryan, at least not completely. Punching first and thinking later, well that had been stupid. And Ryan wasn't stupid, hadn't he told him as much?

"How'd it go?" He heard Kirsten before he saw her sitting across from him.

"He knows what he did was the wrong way to go." Sandy said. He'd made sure of it, even if the way Ryan looked made him think the kid knew that already. Which returned Sandy to his current dilemma, there had to be a reason. "We'll see what he does with it."

"So he's not joining us then?"

"No." Sandy shook his head.

"I'm sure he'll come around." Kirsten's hand covered Sandy's. Sandy noticed as her expression changed. "Oh, a call came for you." She stood and grabbed the piece of paper from the notepad on the fridge. "Jacob Hill," She raised an eyebrow. "Friend or client?"

Any reply that Sandy was going to make suddenly got stuck in his throat. Jacob Hill, he hadn't spoken to Jacob in a long time. The fact that he'd even gotten Sandy's contact information, much less his home number, was a surprise, though wholly unsurprising if this was the same Jacob Hill that Sandy recalled. "No, not a client." Sandy blinked away the confusion to the best of his ability. _Yet_ was the foregone conclusion.

It was time for Sandy Cohen to deal with his own Oliver Trask.

* * *

How Jacob Hill had ended up in their living room was a spiral effect that Sandy was all too familiar with. And yet, he hadn't quite been able to pin it as such until it was too late.

"Thanks for this San, I, I know it's probably kind of crazy. But like I told you, this is kind of a big deal. I mean when he called, I, I would've half expected him to call you."

Sandy clasped his hands and listened trying to bite back the many questions. Why now, being number one. He wasn't exactly in the best state of preparedness for a visit after almost twenty years. Why do you still insist on referring to me as San being number two. And why didn't you give my brother my number if you had it all this time being number three. But what he said was "Crazy doesn't even begin to describe it Jake, but I'm happy to help. So what exactly did Paulie say?"

"He just gave me a number and told me to give it to you." Jacob dug out a piece of paper, yellowed and damp handing it to Sandy. "That's the number where he's staying. Uh…mine's there too." Sandy glanced over and noticed Ryan had entered the house. Apparently Jake had noticed as well. "So I won't keep you. Just call him when you get a chance." He held out a hand for Sandy to shake.

Sandy did, giving a single nod and letting go rather quickly, which didn't go unnoticed by his foster son as the man left.

"Who was that?" Ryan's expression didn't change, nor did he truly look at Sandy as he asked the question. _Pissed. Clearly._ Sandy noted. But he was here, and he was talking so Sandy would take what he could get.

"An old friend."

"You seemed like you wanted to get rid of him pretty quick." Ryan said. And the question was there in Ryan's eyes. _How good of a friend is he really?_ It was intermingled with the same look he'd given in the poolhouse, and Sandy again wondered was the reason Ryan did what he did the same reason Sandy had let go so quickly when Jacob shook his hand? Was there something more there?

"He usually means trouble." Was all Sandy said in response.

The boy nodded raising his eyebrows a fraction of an inch, but didn't say anything more getting up from the couch and going into the kitchen.

* * *

 _ **A/N: So, that's the prologue. Um, I've decided that I'm going to try to bookend present moments, so we will still see Kirsten, Ryan and Seth, but as I said before this story will mostly be dealing with Sandy's freshman year of high school with present moments occasionally being sparse. I'm kind of experimenting a bit with a different style of writing overall, the use of the present to frame the past, so it, being the present, may not always be involved. If interested Jacob Hill is portrayed by Ian Harding.**_

 ** _A bit of a factoid, this idea actually comes from three separate er questions, instances, one of which is referenced above, the scene where Sandy is talking to Ryan in the poolhouse, that whole exchange. I just have this feeling that Sandy could be speaking from experience especially with what he told Ryan in the pilot. Another is of course that bit of dialogue in the pilot which is in the summary of this story. I just generally wished to know more as the Sandy Cohen we meet in the first episode doesn't seem the type to be pissed off and stupid, and of course The Nana. That whole dynamic, I just wanted to explore a bit more. So...I hope this isn't totally odd or off putting as far as an O.C. story goes:) Please let me know if you're interested in seeing more and of course if you have any facts to share, particularly about the time period ( 1970s-ish?) as I'm not particularly familiar or about any little details I might be overlooking related to canon, review or PM. I've watched the whole series so I know a lot I'd like to think, but as I said it's been a while and little details can be forgotten. Anyway, please do tell me what you think. And for those of you who follow my other stories, I'll be getting around to updating those soon. It's my last crazy few weeks of classes so updating is going to be slow for a while._**

 ** _Next: In the present, Sandy calls Paul and is taken back as we get our first glimpse into Sandy's family as he prepares for his first week of high school._**


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Well, hi, um...well if you're still interested in seeing my version of a prequel, I have the first official chapter. As far as the present moments go, things will be changing slightly, a decision I made as I was writing this chapter. You can find out more details about that in the bottom author's note. I own no one except for Jacob Hill and my version of Sandy's siblings. Young Sandy is portrayed by Noah Galvin, young Paul is portrayed by Davis Cleveland, young Sarah is portrayed by younger Rowan Blanchard. Paul in the present day is portrayed by Jake Thomas.**_

* * *

 **Chapter One:Brother (and Sister) Things**

2004

Sandy had just left the kitchen after a weird dance to attempt to grab a cup of coffee. Julie Cooper had banished Kirsten along with at least half of the Newport Group from their offices in order to do some kind of feng shui. That was the nicest way he could put it. His conversation with Kirsten was still fresh in his mind. _Hanging tough, that's all it is._ Unconsciously his fingers grazed the slip of paper that Jacob had given him with Paul's phone number as he stopped to find himself in the study in front of his phone. _Now or never Sandy._ He sighed. Anything to quiet his thoughts. He picked up the phone and dialed.

" _Paul Cohen…"_

Well it seemed his brother had developed a bit of a smoker's lung. Sandy had to stop himself from chuckling. He realized almost as soon as he heard the name, that he hadn't been prepared for an answer, and Sandy Cohen was not one to be lost for words. How long had it been? He cleared his throat. "Hey ya Paulie, still rolling?"

" _Damn it San-took you long enough."_ The crack in his brother's voice didn't go unnoticed.

"I know."

" _Uh...how's the wife and kid, Kirsten and Sean?"_

"Seth actually." Sandy corrected.

" _Right, right. Sorry slips y'know."_

"I know." Sandy sighed. "They're good, uh and it's actually _kids_ now."

" _You really have been busy, saving the world and still making time. I couldn't do it."_

"It's not...not like that." Sandy winced. "Actually we're fostering, kid was in bad straits."

" _Ah,"_ And the tone that Paul took caused Sandy to clench his jaw.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

" _Nothin' nothin', fostering...that….that really is great Sandy."_

"What's this about?" Sandy rubbed his eyes. "Come on Paulie, I know you didn't send Jake all the way out here for a long distance social call."

" _Ouch, jeez and crackers San, that's harsh!"_ Sandy could hear the intake of breath and the hiss of air. " _And it ain't exactly long distance. Caught a flight yesterday. I need a place to crash."_

Sandy narrowed his eyes tapping his fingers on his desk. "So let me see if I heard you right, you left New York hopped a flight and you're...where exactly?"

" _Pasadena."_

"Paul…" Sandy closed his eyes. "You're in..." He didn't, couldn't finish the sentence.

" _So can you help me out?"_

"That depends. Just what kind of trouble are you dealing with?"

" _I screwed things up with Mel. I screwed up bad San. She kicked me out."_

"And how exactly did you get a plane ticket to Pasadena?" Sandy shook his head. "Never mind don't answer that. There's kind of a lot going on around here Paulie, I don't know if, I don't know if you want to be in the middle of this right now."

 _I don't know if I want you in the middle of this right now._

" _Come on Sandy, don't turn me out."_

"I have to get back to you. Can I reach you by this same number?"

" _Whatever. I saved it. I'll call you."_ The line went dead.

Sandy sighed. His brother, his brother was something else. It seemed like there was always the same back and forth with them, ever since they were kids. Sandy could remember it as if it were yesterday.

1979

"Sandy! Where's your sister? You've got to leave in twenty minutes."

"Probably crying in the bathroom." Paulie slid into his place at the kitchen table, the cord to his Walkman sticking out of his pocket.

Sandy rolled his eyes. "She didn't ask you."

"Not like you knew anyway." Paulie shrugged. "What's she got to be upset about anyway? It's just middle school."

Sandy didn't take the bait, looking to his mother as he placed his plate in the sink. "I'll get her."

Mom didn't even look up from the paper she was studying, just nodded. Probably another case file. He wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

He took the stairs two at a time, checking all of the doors. He heard sniffling coming from the door on the far right, the bedroom she and Paul shared. "Sarah," He tapped gently on the open door. "It's Sandy, mind if I come in?"

"Go away!" Sandy dodged as a pillow was thrown in his direction.

"Whoa, watch the projectiles." He picked up the offending object as he walked over to Sarah's bed. "What's going on?"

"Doesn't matter."

Sandy frowned. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. But Mom has breakfast waiting. So I'd hurry up."

Sarah nodded taking the pillow from her brother as she placed it back on her bed. She looked at Sandy biting her lip then shook her head.

" _Something's_ on your mind."

"I'll ask Mom. When does she get home today?" It was a question all of the Cohen kids were used to asking.

"I don't know, but you can probably catch her if you come down now. Is it something you can ask Catherine?" Catherine was one of the after school leaders at their youth group. The high school let out a half an hour later than the middle school on the first week for freshmen, so Sandy wouldn't be able to walk Sarah and Paulie to the Y, but would have to meet up later.

Sarah shook her head. She stood and walked past Sandy and toward the stairs.

Sandy rubbed his forehead. He loved his sister, but she was like most girls, cryptic and confusing, especially at ten years old. Sandy looked around the bedroom as something caught his eye, a piece of paper wedged in between the pages of a notebook, or falling out, was probably more accurate. His only intention was to straighten it out. He wasn't going to look, but his eyes wandered down to the words on the page: _Daddy Daughter Dance._

Well that explained a lot.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Alright, so it looks like Sandy has an issue with his brother to deal with even as he's dealing with Ryan and the Oliver situation as young Sandy realizes that his sister is missing a father figure when the middle school will be hosting a father daughter dance. What do you think he'll do?**_

 _ **Okay so as far as things changing in the present, "the Truth" arc is going to wrap itself up fairly quickly much the same way it does in canon with a few extended moments which I will add in, and the focus will turn itself to Sandy's brother and how the family deals with his sudden arrival out of nowhere. Figure this will make for a more interesting read involving the characters we know rather than a the Truth retread. As always, suggestions, requests, predictions and questions are always welcome.**_


End file.
